Eastenders star arrested

Actor detained after assault claims made...

10:36 08 November 2010

Eastenders actor Steve McFadden has been arrested over assault charges, it has been confirmed.

The 51-year-old, who plays hard-man Phil Mitchell in the soap, was taken to a police station on Wednesday after his former partner made a complaint.

Dr Rachel Sidwell and the actor have a 17-month-old daughter called Amelie Tinkerbell.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "On Wednesday November 3 officers from Haringey arrested a 51-year-old man in connection with alleged harassment to cause violence against a female.

"He has since been bailed until a date in January."

The news comes after it was announced over the weekend that his on-screen brother Ross Kemp, who played Grant Mitchell in Eastenders, had had his first child with his former partner.

The announcement caused controversy, however, as he was pictured kissing another woman who is thought to be his current partner at the time of the birth.

Both incidents have been likened to storylines in the soap.